female catcher

Chapter 172 The Twilight Drum
After Xia Chu finished speaking, he was afraid that he would vent too much emotion in front of Jiang Xiyuan, so he turned around and ran away by saying that the sun was shining.Jiang Xiyuan sighed silently as he looked at her panicked look.

What he said that night when Chu Xia was drunk was true, she took it as a joke after listening to it, and then forgot it after laughing; the sadness he said just now was also true, she still took it as a joke, and then remembered that after laughing Mr. Huang.

He also wanted to speak out seriously, but he still didn't dare, he was afraid that he would not know what to do later, and that his impetuousness would push her further away from him.The truth is hidden in the joke, which is really like a joke.

He didn't like Mr. Huang at all, but he envied him very much, and envied him for actually walking into Xia Chu's heart.Can't guess what kind of person that would be, who got Xia Chu's blue eyes.

Jiang Xiyuan thought of the painting pasted on the wall in early Xia, and recalled every detail about Mr. Huang that Xia Chu had mentioned. There was a subtle sense of familiarity somewhere, which made him feel like he knew this person himself.This feeling is very uncomfortable, like a cloud of mist, if there seems to be nothing, it can't be shaken off or touched.

Jiang Xiyuan was in a trance with his arms folded, when Master Sihu Bai walked over cautiously and called him.Jiang Xiyuan came back to his senses, and gave him a slight nod, "I'm back."

"Yes." Master Bai smiled respectfully and cautiously: "The report of the Gyeonggi tax depot and grain has been handed over to the Ministry of Households. The tax is much higher than that in the first half of last year. The Minister said that he will hand over the booklet."

"I'm taking the throne not long ago, so I care about this." Jiang Xiyuan nodded lightly, and walked slowly towards the study with Lord Bai.The succession of the new emperor is like the appointment of a new official. They all want to make further progress.

"My lord, why don't you hand over the papers first? The Ministry of Households will give credit to the Ministry of Households." Bai Daren said.

Jiang Xiyuan smiled, "These things are originally from the Ministry of Household Affairs. If there is too much today, you have to claim credit, but if there is less in the future, you have to fight for it? Master Bai just does his job well."

Mr. Bai was knocked a few times, and he responded embarrassingly, and said: "By the way, I went to the household department just now, and I heard that the Huai River in Qingcheng County is in disaster again."

"is it serious?"

"I don't know, I just listened to it. The Ministry of Industry has already been called to the Imperial Study Room."

Jiang Xiyuan hummed and didn't speak.The Huai River is always unstable, and every few years there will always be a big or small quarrel, but now that the emperor and Yongwei are about to get married, it's better not to make a fuss about the disaster to harm Yongwei.

In the imperial study room, Su Zhen showed the Ministry of Industry the report of the Governor of Qingcheng, and asked him to come up with a countermeasure as soon as possible, and then ordered the Ministry of Households to submit a plan for raising food and salaries for disaster relief.

The Ministry of Industry received the decree and went down, and Su Zhen read the report again.This was a three-hundred-mile flight six days ago, and the affected area and population of Qingcheng County are still unclear.It took [-] miles to send it by air, maybe the disaster was not too serious, or it could be that the officials of Qingcheng County were delaying the time and had the intention of concealing the report.

Thinking that those officials who were two thousand miles away might be sitting together at this moment, discussing how much money to knock down from the household department, Su Zhen felt extremely irritable.It's just beyond the reach of the whip, and he can't abolish officials just because of suspicion.

Su Zhen frowned, threw the report on the table, reached out to grab the teacup next to the case, the pendant in his sleeve slipped out and touched the rim of the cup, making a crisp and light sound.He hastily withdrew his hand and held the pendant in the palm of his hand, the coldness of the tentacles entered his heart all of a sudden, and he lost his mind in an instant.The sadness of being covered up by official duties came in a long way, and it permeated my heart irresistibly.

Su Zhen looked at it with lowered eyes, rubbed it lightly, and slid his fingers over the round grapes and tangled branches, his heart was so chaotic.

The purple jade was penetrating, the shallow crack became clear under the gaze, it was there early like a prophecy, and finally it was scratched on the heart.

Seeing each other is like not seeing each other, how can it be ruthless to be affectionate.It's just a trick of good fortune.

He was silent for a moment, then carefully gathered the pendant into his sleeve, and stood up.An Liang took half a step forward to listen to Hou's orders, but Su Zhen walked out of the study slowly without saying anything.

The sun was already slanting to the west outside, and the white sunlight was replaced by a dazzling orange, covering the sky and the earth in a golden yellow.A faint crow jumped up with startled wings, and flew into the sky with noisy calls.

Su Zhen watched them fly across the palace and out of the imperial city until they could no longer be found.His shadow was stretched on the golden brick and jade platform, standing quietly, only the hem of his clothes trembled in the wind, as if he wanted to fly but could not, and was thrown here by those birds.

An Liang couldn't bear his loneliness, stepped forward half a step and said softly: "Your Majesty, you have been busy all day, take a break, this servant will order the meal to be passed on."

Su Zhen nodded lightly, retracted his gaze and turned around, the sound of the evening drum sounded unexpectedly, he looked towards the sound again until the lingering sound dissipated.

"It's been a day..." Su Zhen said softly, lowering his head, his eyes filled with loneliness.

Xia Chu also heard the drumbeat, got up and opened the door, stood under the veranda and looked at the sky.The setting sun shines through the layered leaves of the old tree in the government office, flickering like golden bells, and there are tired birds returning to their nests and crows singing, just like what she saw when she was flying along the official road on her birthday.

It's just that the situation changes according to one's heart, and the mood of that day only stays on that day.When you come back from the trip that you just said and left, your reason will eventually become the shackles of your emotions. How can you really be desperate.

It's too late to meet each other, so it's better to say goodbye sooner.Xia Chu said to himself.

She counted the Twilight Drum silently, feeling that she was like that drum, being beaten empty.It's time now, she doesn't want to go home at all, she is afraid of being touched by the scene, afraid of thinking about it repeatedly, she feels extremely lonely, as if she is not even with herself.

Zheng Lian hurried in with the sound of drums, and when he saw Xia Chu from a distance, he raised his hands and shouted loudly, "Boss! I found it! I found it!"

Xia Chu gathered up his scattered thoughts, waved at him, and greeted him quickly.Panting heavily, Zheng Lian handed a small porcelain pot in his hand to Xia Chu, and said excitedly: "It's in the drawer of the chest of drawers in Yuexiao's red room, and it turned over when I went there, you See if it's this."

Xia Chu glanced at it, and found that the porcelain jar was not very delicate, and the lid was covered with red cloth and cork, and the words 'Guangjitang' were clearly written on it.She pulled off the lid and took a look by light. There was not much brown ointment inside, and it smelled like traditional Chinese medicine.

She closed the lid again, "Where's the wine? Did you ask?"

"I asked." Zheng Lian nodded quickly and said, "But the cook in the back kitchen said he couldn't remember clearly. Something happened when he got up early that day. Who cares about these odds and ends, but the back kitchen does have wine. Hello, boss. Take two sips."

Xia Chu asked Zheng Lian to leave first after listening to it, took the bottle of medicine and thought for a while, ran to the backyard of the government office to find the dog raised by the cook, and was going to try to see if it was poisonous or not.

The dog named Yinzi wagged its tail happily when it saw Chu Xia, and hopped on the spot while struggling with the chain around its neck.Xia Chu went over to touch its head, and it narrowed its eyes comfortably, sticking out its tongue.Xia Chu's heart was so soft that he looked at the medicine in his hand and then at the money, got up and left.

Xia Chu went to the kitchen to look for the cat again, and after the cook's guidance, he found the tabby cat nestled in the corner of the woodshed. The tabby cat looked at Xia Chu vigilantly, and hugged the nursing kitten in his arms.At the beginning of Xia, he withdrew again.

"Zhang Liu, do you have any living creatures?" Xia Chu asked the cook.

"I bought a pig yesterday and haven't killed it yet. What are you going to do to catch the head?"

"I want to try poison."

Zhang Liuzheng yawned, half startled by Xia Chu, and looked at her with his mouth open.Xia Chu laughed dryly, "Then..., is there any live fish? Here's one."

After Jiang Xiyuan finished talking with Master Bai, he came out to find Xia Chu, wanting to take her to have dinner with him, but he couldn't find her when he arrived at the police room.Qiu Cai was on duty, Zheng Lian hadn't left yet, and was talking to him.When Jiang Xiyuan entered the door, he only heard the word 'Wang Huai', so he asked casually, "What's wrong with Wang Huai?"

Qiu Cai and Zheng Lian hurriedly stood up and said hello to Jiang Xiyuan. Zheng Lian said, "It's nothing wrong with Wang Huai. I just ran into him when I went out today. He's doing quite well now, and he's talking when he sees me." He was very angry, so I stabbed him a few words. This is just talking to Qiu Cai."

Jiang Xiyuan hummed, "Have you seen Xia Chu?"

"I see. I just came back and gave him the medicine. I saw him go to the backyard." Zheng Lian said.

When Jiang Xiyuan went to the backyard and saw Chu Xia, she was squatting on the ground talking to a wooden basin. Zhang Liu squatted farther away, covered his mouth, and stared at the wooden basin.

Jiang Xiyuan walked over quietly, Zhang Liu saw that he was about to speak, but was stopped by him.When he got closer, he only heard Xia Chu say to the wooden basin, "Going to bliss early", and bowed with his palms together.

Jiang Xiyuan laughed, "What are you doing here?"

Xia Chu turned around and raised his head to him and said, "Testing poison."

Only then did Jiang Xiyuan look into the wooden basin, and saw a crucian carp more than a foot long had turned its stomach inside. The dead fish was staring at the sky, its appearance unchanged, but it made him feel a little disgusted, so he turned his eyes away.

"poisonous?"

Xia Chu stood up and nodded, "I only picked a little bit of firewood, and it died very quickly." She took the medicine jar in her hand and said, "Zheng Lian found this in Yue Xiaohong's room. , in that drawer. If this is the can that Tang Baoxin gave her..."

"how?"

"Do you think Tang Baoxin is suspected?"

Jiang Xiyuan thought for a while, then bent the corners of his lips, "You mean, even if Tang Baoxin sent the medicine, he didn't necessarily put the poison."

"Yue Xiaohong's head and jewelry were all taken away, which means that many people must have entered and exited her room during the rest period, Tang Baoxin was even more so. If he poisoned him, he would have to be so confident to not feel guilty Let this jar of medicine stay in the drawer? It must not be forgotten."

"However, this is just a common sense guess and cannot be used to rule out Tang Baoxin's suspicion." Xia Chu weighed the jar of medicine and frowned slightly. There will be a lot, what kind of poison is so powerful that it can kill people like this? I don’t know much about poison, does your lord understand?”

Jiang Xiyuan shook his head, "I don't understand, I just know that there is an arsenic and a drug that induces the mechanism, and I have never seen a person who was poisoned to death in my life." He took the medicine and looked at it, "Let's go to Tang Baoxin for trial first."

(End of this chapter)